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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26360947">The Kids Aren't Alright (But They Will Be, They Will Be)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leonidas1754/pseuds/Leonidas1754'>Leonidas1754</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>South Park</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Aged-Up Character(s), Butters is only called Leopold, Campfires, Childhood Trauma, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, M/M, Multi, No Dialogue, Polyamory, Songfic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 06:02:08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,588</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26360947</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leonidas1754/pseuds/Leonidas1754</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>At the end of the day, they're just a group of barely-adults gathered around a campfire, holding onto what they have left. So when Stan requests an old song, Jimmy plays and ruminates on the troubles and strength of his friends, and he knows that even if things are bad now, they'll be alright.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Craig Tucker/Tweek Tweak, Kenny McCormick/Jimmy Valmer, Kyle Broflovski/Stan Marsh, Scott Malkinson/Leopold "Butters" Stotch/Clyde Donovan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Kids Aren't Alright (But They Will Be, They Will Be)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This fic started off as me attempting to write something Butters/Clyde and looking for a song for inspiration, then I stumbled onto "The Kids Aren't Alright" by Fall Out Boy and listened to it on loop for at least two hours while writing this XD<br/>First time I've written a fic without dialogue in some time (there's the song lyrics but I'd say this still counts considering there's no real dialogue, just Jimmy singing) Hope you enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <span>“Stuck in the jet wash. Bad trip I couldn't get off. And maybe I bit off more than I could chew, and overhead of the aqua blue.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Jimmy’s voice rang out clear over the fire, his guitar accompanying the crackling wood in perfect harmony. He sat on a taller rock at the edge of their campsite, just enjoying the night breeze. It gave him a perfect view of their little campsite and the people within, sitting around a fire in their pairs and groups and soft embraces.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tweek and Craig sat on a log, Tweek dozing on Craig’s shoulder while Craig roasted a marshmallow. It was week three of being kicked out of his parent’s house, and week two of meth withdrawal. He’d already eaten the box of graham crackers they’d brought for s’mores, then blubbered out apologies for five minutes while everyone tried to assure him it was fine. Kyle had finally shouted at him to shut the fuck up and eat the chocolate while he was at it, which seemed to do the trick, at least. Tweek didn’t end up eating all the chocolate, but he did have a bar, which seemed to satisfy both him and Kyle.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Fall to your knees bring on the rapture. Blessed be the boys time can't capture. On film or between the sheets, I always fall from your window to the pitch black streets~”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>No one really blamed Tweek, not when they’d all researched meth withdrawal so they’d be prepared for what Tweek would be going through. It seemed, at least, that the psychosis was finally fading, even if he was still having massive carb cravings and depressive episodes on top of feeling sick. Those too would fade with time, and Jimmy looked forward to seeing what kind of man Tweek could become, free of his parents and their venom.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Craig turned and kissed Tweek atop his head, causing Tweek to smile and rouse himself to ask Craig something. Whatever it was, it made Craig smile in that soft little way reserved only for the boy he’d loved for so long.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“And with the black banners raised as the crooked smiles fade, former heroes who quit too late, just wanna fill up the trophy case again.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Kenny returned from a trip to the van and tossed a few sleeping bags on the ground. Then he carefully climbed up on the rock to sit beside Jimmy, joining him in looking out over their friends. Jimmy wondered if, even after all these years, he saw himself apart from, rather than one of, them.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“And in the end, I’d do it all again. I think you’re my best friend. Don’t you know that the kids aren’t all, kids aren’t alright.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Kenny’s gaze slipped to Jimmy’s from the corner of his eyes, and Jimmy met it steadily. They were going to get out of here, soon enough. They’d stay for Karen, just until she was old enough to come with them, and then they’d be gone, leaves in the wind scattering across the pavement. Two and a half years, maybe shorter if things truly went further south with their parents. Jimmy didn’t mind waiting for them.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“I’ll be yours. When it rains it pours. Stay thirsty like before. Don’t you know that the kids aren’t all, kids aren’t alright.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>They found love in unexpected places, these days. Kenny looked down at the campsite again, smiling. The red firelight failed to hide the matching heat in his cheeks, making Jimmy’s chest swell. All he wanted was to whisk the two away from this damnable place, and he would, he knew he would. They just needed to hold on a little longer.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“I’m not passive but aggressive. Take note, it’s not impressive. Empty your sadness like you’re dumping your purse on my bedroom floor. We put your curse in reverse."</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Leopold picked up one of the sleeping bags and rolled it out. Eighteen years old and staring down the barrel of your father’s rage and mother’s distantness was no enviable position. Somehow, some way Jimmy couldn’t fathom, Leopold managed to hold his own. There was some light at the end of the tunnel for him, and whether it was the sun or an oncoming train, he was running to meet it head-on.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Of course, maybe it was because he wasn’t alone in that.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“And it’s our time now if you want it to be. More the war like the carnival bears set free, and your love is anemic and I can’t believe that you couldn’t see it coming from me.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Scott carefully sat down after Leopold opened the bag and spread it out. Leopold smiled at him and ruffled his hair before moving off. The poor guy had been on the receiving end of a hell of a year, really. Repeated injuries, infections, and illnesses had wracked him, eventually leading to a Chronic Fatigue Syndrome diagnosis earlier this year. The doctors hoped it would be temporary, and that Scott’s body would be able to recover as he got further from the assault of misfortune. He was determined, most days, helped by his boyfriends’ affections and positivity.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“And I still feel that rush in my veins, it twists my head just a bit too thin. All those people in those old photographs I’ve seen are dead~”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Clyde joined them on the laid out sleeping bag, helped down by Leopold. His cast made it rather hard to get low on his own.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Clyde probably had one of the most promising futures of their present company, really. He’d been scouted out by the University of Colorado Boulder, given a near-full ride to play football for him. Then he’d been jumped by some jackasses from North Park who broke his leg in three places. The doctors weren’t sure it would ever heal right, and even if it did, the subject of him playing football was tentative at best.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jimmy remembered when Clyde had been sitting in the hospital bed, crying silently as he took in the news. He was pretty sure Leopold and Scott were the only ones who got Clyde through that time without losing his mind.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The three of them laid down, Clyde and Scott pressing Leopold between them, giving him some presence of safety and security that he hadn’t had for so long, maybe ever. It was something for them all to hold onto as they prayed for the sun.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“And in the end, I’d do it all again. I think you’re my best friend. Don’t you know that the kids aren’t all, kids aren’t alright.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>And then there was Stan and Kyle. They stood at the edge of the clearing, wrapped up in one another’s arms, slow-dancing. It had been Stan’s request that Jimmy play this song, and Jimmy could understand why. Sometimes you just needed something sad, something to reverberate through your soul to leech away the poisons trapped within.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>If Leopold, Clyde, and Scott were facing a light that could equally save or kill them, Kyle and Stan were being dragged under a storm-torn ocean, with land nowhere in sight.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“I’ll be yours. When it rains it pours. Stay thirsty like before. Don’t you know that the kids aren’t all, kids aren’t alright.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Both of their parents were getting divorced, throwing them into familial battles and an uncertain future. Stan felt as though none of his family wanted him, that his growing up was finally excuse enough to abandon any pretense of parental love. The ground was being ripped from under him, leaving him in freefall.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The worst part, most likely, was that he’d seen it coming years ago. It still didn’t prepare him for when it happened.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“And sometimes I just want to sit around and gaze at my shoes, yea. And let your dirty sadness fill me up just like a balloon.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Kyle wasn’t fairing much better. While Stan’s parents’ divorce was cold and strained and muted, Kyle’s parents’ divorce had become a large and ugly blowout. Perhaps even worse, Kyle desperately held onto his composure and false hope for Ike, to give him some sort of anchor in the storm, that if nothing else, he’d have his big brother, and that Kyle would know what to do, Kyle always knew what to do.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“And in the end, I’d do it all again. I think you’re my best friend. Don’t you know that the kids aren’t all, kids aren’t alright.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Stan and Kyle stood together as if it were their only hope to survive it all. Their years-long facade of simple friendship and camaraderie had crumbled to dust as they held onto one another with every ounce of strength that remained, with white knuckles and clenched teeth, with lips and touch and shared breaths in the night.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kyle’s face was pressed into Stan’s shoulder, doubtlessly crying there, and Jimmy could read Stan’s lips at Kyle’s ear, his own tears falling as he matched Jimmy word for word. If a simple song was what they needed to stay afloat right now, Jimmy was happy to give it to them. They’d come out the other side, Jimmy knew- Kyle had always been a fighter, and Stan could be just as stubborn when he wanted to be.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“And I’ll be yours. When it rains it pours. Stay thirsty like before. Don’t you know that the kids aren’t all, kids aren’t alright.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>They would be, though. One day, they’d all be alright, and for tonight, it was fine that they weren’t. Having one another was enough.</span>
</p>
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